Notre Dame is a victory away from playing for the national title. Alabama and Georgia each need two, and could have to go through each other.

A day after Oregon and Kansas State lost to give up control of the BCS race, the Fighting Irish (.9973) moved into first place in the standings for the first time.

“Now we don’t have to answer questions about style points or politics,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said yesterday. “Now we have a chance to play for the national championship this week.”

Notre Dame (11-0), ranked No. 1 in both polls and by the computer ratings, needs only to beat slumping Southern California on Saturday in Los Angeles to earn its first trip to the BCS title game.

Alabama (.9333) and Georgia (.8763) also have rivalry games on Saturday. The Crimson Tide plays host to Auburn, and the Bulldogs play Georgia Tech at home.

If the favorites win, the Southeastern Conference championship game will be a national semifinal of sorts, with the winner advancing to the BCS title game.

If form does not hold and there are more upsets, there are a handful of teams that could be in the mix.

Florida (10-1) is in fourth heading into a huge game at 10th-place Florida State.

Oregon (10-1) dropped to fifth, and Kansas State (10-1) is sixth.

Notre Dame, which last won a national championship in 1988, has lost nine of the past 10 against USC.

USC QB Barkley ruled out

USC quarterback Matt Barkley will miss the game against Notre Dame because of a sprained shoulder. Coach Lane Kiffin announced that Max Wittek will make his first career start in place of Barkley. Barkley was injured in the final minutes of the Trojans’ 38-28 loss to UCLA.

Tennessee fires Dooley

Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart believed that Derek Dooley improved the Tennessee program during his three-year tenure as coach. Dooley just didn’t improve the Volunteers enough to keep his job.

Dooley, 44, was fired after posting a 15-21 record that lacked wins over ranked opponents and SEC foes. Dooley was 4-19 in conference games and 0-15 against top-25 teams. Tennessee (4-7, 0-7 SEC) is 1-14 in the SEC over the past two years.

Hart said that Dooley improved the team after stepping into a tough situation, but he noted that “you can’t ignore the results at the end of the day.”

Tennessee’s 41-18 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday assured the Vols of their third consecutive losing season.